I building a temple to house an alter for my best friend who passed in Feb, his name was Nasu (some of you may know him). Anyway, the temple is basically a 12' radius dome and will have 3-4 partitioned area inside. 2 of the areas have set purposes the other 1-2 are still open for ideas. I was thinking of maybe making one a room for an altar for anyone to leave something in rememberance of their lost loved ones. If its not too much stuff we'd probably pack up the stuff that was left on this altar and place it in the temple for the burning of the man. Was just a thought as right now the only people to feel any kind of connection with this temple would be friends and aquaintances of Nasu. With this other altar in place it would open particiapation to a greater number of people. Anyhow, thoughts and suggestions requested....

We're trying to figure out a suitable memorial for our folks - I lost my mom 32 years ago on the 13th, my dad passed a couple years ago, my dad-in-law a few years ago and my other mom a year ago last March 1st... It's been a hard few years for us, and kind of want to do something special for their memories... any ideas?

There's not a damn thing wrong with Benedict XVI....yet. The guy hasn't even had a chance to get accustomed to wearing the Fisherman's Ring and everyone thinks he's going to do this or do that. A look back at John Paul II's reign shows conclusively that once a pope takes power, they don't always stick to the script and can often go in unexpected directions. Ratzinger may turn out to be the downfall of the modern church...that's true. But until he actually does something, give the man an open mind. He may surprise us all in many different ways.

As for Cardinal Law, what he did was wrong beyond question. But doesn't the guy deserve the chance to make amends? He's not the one that was guilty of doing the molestation....and for those guys there are no second chances. From what I've read about it Law was simply trying to protect the interests of the church. He made bad decisions...as we all have. Give him a chance at redemption.

K-IV
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Thank you for over 7 years of eplaya memories. I have asked Emily Sparkle to delete my account and I am gone. Goodbye and Goodluck to all of you! I will miss you!

Kinetic IV wrote:As for Cardinal Law, what he did was wrong beyond question. But doesn't the guy deserve the chance to make amends?

OUCH! I have to disagree with you on this one - "two wrongs don't make a right." And he's had plenty of opportunities to 'make amends', he has just chosen not to do so. It's between him and his maker now.

Now, back on topic: If anyone here is going to the AZ Regional Burn, Toast!, there will be a pet memorial to honor our lost furry ones.

As for humans, in '02, I brought my mothers' urn with her ashes and pushed her around the playa in my shopping cart. I introduced her to everyone we came across. On the night of the Burn, I tied glowsticks around her so no one would trip over her as she sat next to me on the playa. I think she had a good time.

When I wrote that I was having thoughts that in America, even our fundamentally flawed corrections system offers criminals chances at redemption and works to return some people to a rightful place in society. If people who were convicted of worse crimes than the things Cardinal Law committed are allowed to return to society....why can't Cardinal Law be given the same treatment? There's no doubt he's already paid a price for what he did...a high price. But when does the punishment stop? How much longer do people have to keep piling it on him? Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord...and when I look at this I see a man that paid the price for his mistake and people continue to dogpile him...essentally they are taking vengeance into their own hands. In my mind enough is enough. He lost his status, he's had to leave the country...he paid his price and the Vatican pulled him close so the Curia could work on rehabilitating him. And they can tap into his skills to fix the broken processes instead of casting him to the side....it seems to be a better strategy than ex-communication and leaving him to end his days in shame. Who benefits from that besides a handful of people with their own agendas or anger they really need to get rid of anyway?

K-IV
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Thank you for over 7 years of eplaya memories. I have asked Emily Sparkle to delete my account and I am gone. Goodbye and Goodluck to all of you! I will miss you!

Kinetic IV wrote:When I wrote that I was having thoughts that in America, even our fundamentally flawed corrections system offers criminals chances at redemption and works to return some people to a rightful place in society. If people who were convicted of worse crimes than the things Cardinal Law committed are allowed to return to society....why can't Cardinal Law be given the same treatment?

The whole "penatentiary" thing was started by quakers, wasn't it?
I don't know what you mean by "worse crimes" but abuse of the power of an institution to retain the power of the institution is often as fundmentally violent as murder and rape. At times it is murder and rape--although at few degrees away from the orderer of the crime, who gets to smile and pretend that there's no blood on the hand. Personally, I find that betraying the trust of others in a way that seriously limits the freedom and joy of those weaker than you--especially when you are claiming to be "better" and "more moral" than the rest of the world, or at least the most moral way to exist--is a very serious crime. It's easy to focus on mass murderers for instance, but in ways not instructive. I want to see Union Carbide and Enron and the Inquisition in the Dock. Crimes against Humanity in the first and third case. . .

IMHO>

The Lady with a Lamprey

"The powerful are exploiting people, art and ideas, and this leads to us plebes debating how to best ration ice.Man, no wonder they always win....." Lonesomebri

That's what we thought... The postal people have a Korea Vet stamp this year (my dad was there), maybe find an old 6th patch as well... Mom was from the dakota flatlands and a really talented craftswoman (was thinking a wheat or corn doll), I'm not sure what Shell had in mind for mom & dad on that side... Ken was a WW2 vet and a good golfer (will a golf ball burn??), and Mom Jeanne was a model (and a hell of a bridge player - maybe that's a key? a scorepad and deck of cards?)...

My dad died about 6 years ago. He was depressed with a drink problem so I think of his death as a release from what life had made happen to him, and now he is happy and free...He used to call me six pence and one day out of the blue, I found an old six pence piece in my pocket! Coincidence? Could be, but I prefer to think that he is still here somehow, but now happy and with me.